"The proliferation of social media has meant that invasions of privacy through online forums, such as the alarming trend of jilted lovers posting sexually explicit photographs of ex-partners on the internet, has immediate and vast reaching repercussions," she said.

"Privacy is also being impacted by other new technologies, such as increasingly affordable surveillance drones which fly overhead and can film people in their backyards and on private property."

The investigation has been a long time coming, with the NSW Law Reform Commission calling for reform in its Invasion of Privacy report in 2009.

The Australian Law Reform Commission made similar calls last year.

"Both of those reports considered the need for a cause of action for breaches of privacy,' Mrs Maclaren-Jones said.

"There have also been recent inquiries into privacy law in other jurisdictions such as Victoria and South Australia.

"Our committee will specifically consider whether there is a need for a statutory cause of action, or whether existing remedies - including the equitable action of breach of confidence - are adequate."

The closing date for submissions is September 4 with hearings to follow later this year.